GAME OVER
by SatokoHojo
Summary: 16 students are chosen to be beta testers for the new virtual reality shooter, GAME OVER. But as the story goes, they're trapped with no way out, their actual bodies somewhere unknown. Until then, they must face a new mutual killing game, along with the challenges that go with a video game. Will they be able to earn the completion bonus? [SYOC 16/16, CLOSED!]
1. Introduction

_"Congratulations! You, a talented high-schooler in the video game industry, have been chosen as a beta tester for the all new virtual reality game, "Game Over." Despite it's despair-inducing name, it's an action packed survival/shooter, with plenty of extra bonuses!_

 _We sincerely hope that you will be able to attend the beta testing session, which will occur on June 22nd, in the Hope's Peak Gaming of America building, located in California!_

 _See you there!"_

* * *

Welcome to my new SYOC, appropriately titled **GAME OVER**.

This is a SYOC fanfiction, all gaming-themed. As you can tell, it will take place in a virtual reality game, with a twist. If you die in-game, you die in real life.

Now, on to the rules!

* * *

 **1: Gaming/Technical talents only!** This may seem like a very limiting rule, but don't fret! There are many careers in the world of gaming, such as sound engineers, animators, graphics designers, writers, everything! Even a gaming critic can count!

 **2: Nonbinary/Agender characters are totally allowed!** It's always made me a bit sad that we don't see many nonbinary and transgender characters in SYOCs, even in ones where they're allowed! As long as we keep the Nonbinary/Male/Female ratio balanced, I'm totally up for any genders!

 **3: This is a "national" SYOC, meaning that characters of all nationalities and races are allowed!** Hey, but please, always put research into your characters if they're from a culture you're unfamiliar with! I've always seen that people focus on European characters, but I'd love to see African, Indian, Native-American, and Hispanic characters too, they're always welcome!

 **4: Do not make your characters offensive.** No, really, I've seen character who's only traits were that they were "insane" and stuff, and that's really gross and offensive. Please always do research with your characters if they're mentally ill or physically disabled.

 **5: Please send your submission through the PM system!** This one speaks for itself.

 **6: You can submit up to two characters!**

* * *

I'm not going to spend time posting a character forum here, as it is in my profile for easy copy-pasting. Please, I await to see your characters and such!

* * *

 **CURRENT CHARACTER ROSTER:**

 **FEMALE-IDENTIFYING:**

\- **Lyra Minami : SHSL Collaborative Let's Player** [fangirlandotaku]

\- **Michiru Kagarazuka : SHSL Speedrunner** [SDproductions]

\- **Magnolia Raine : SHSL Game Designer** [SlyKingFrost]

\- **Eloise Eun-won Blanc : SHSL Mobile Gamer** [lucky-cure]

\- **Lazuli Liu : SHSL Gaming Livestreamer** [GenderlessBagel]

\- **Zwei Etsuko : SHSL Voice Actress** [FireDusk]

\- **Fiona Quinn : SHSL Alternative Gamer** [Disgruntled Teddy]

 **MALE-IDENTIFYING:**

\- **King Raine : SHSL RPG Strategist** [SlyKingFrost]

\- **Kuzuru Inamine : SHSL Beta Tester** [Fujisaki-kun]

\- **Riko Ito : SHSL Indie Game Developer** [Revolution921]

\- **Junpei Yokata : SHSL Visual Novel Writer** [Daichi Yamazaki]

\- **Kiyoshi L. Yamato : SHSL Horror Let's Player** [Brawler64Brandon]

\- **Phil Kusunoki : SHSL Fighting Game Champion** [SDproductions]

\- **Eins Etsuko : SHSL Voice Actor** [FireDusk]

 **NONBINARY-IDENTIFYING:**

\- **Ji-hae Khang : SHSL MMORPG Player** [SatokoHojo]

\- **Rieka Bellerose : SHSL Sound Designer** [Crimson Spider Lily]


	2. Chapter 0-1 : Introductions

Man, I never thought I'd get to this point in my life, even though I'm pretty great as it is. Who doesn't want to be a beta tester for a virtual reality game, far ahead of it's time? Thoughts of the letter I received as an invitation were still swirling around in my head, and I can still remember opening the letter to see my name, Fiona Quinn, written on the classy stationary.

This whole beta testing thing was supposedly the initiation for Hope's Peak Gaming Academy of America, a school for training teenagers in the video game industry. There was a twist, though. We all had our own talents, and we exceeded the average amount of talent in a normal teenager. For example, I'm the "Super High School Level Alternative Gamer."

Alright, I know what you may be asking, what the hell is an alternative gamer? Well, let me explain. I'm the kind of girl who plays through Skyward Sword with a Guitar Hero controller. I only play video games on the hardest setting, and I aim to get every achievement possible. Hell, I've finished an FPS without shooting a bullet! So yeah, that's what an alternative gamer is.

 **Our Protagonist:**

 **FIONA QUINN**

 **SHSL ALTERNATIVE GAMER**

So I have to describe myself, right? Fine, I can do that. I stand at 5'5 and weigh 145lbs, and I can admit that I've got some muscles. My skin is sun-tanned, and my glorious, fiery red locks are kept in a ponytail that reaches my shoulder blades, and go hand-in-hand with my emerald green eyes. For clothes, I wear a black tank-top along with a blue windbreaker, ripped red leggings, and black, steel-toed combat boots. Classy, I know. My hands are usually wrapped in some athletic tape too.

* * *

But this is no time to be imagining how beautiful I must look, I've got to get on with my life! The 7 story glass-windowed building filled my heart with glee, but as I entered the building, my vision grew dark, and my head was filled with dizziness. Man, maybe I was getting too excited...? Oh, there we go, I'm on the ground.

* * *

Still feeling groggy, I slowly opened my eyes, confusion clouding my mind. Music played in front of me, but I couldn't determine the source. It sounded like elevator music, to be frank. That's when I noticed there was a new watch on my wrist, glowing brightly. Only it seemed to be projecting a hologram. The bright, transparent letters read "Now Generating Level...Please Stand By!"

This was weird, but I could only explain it one way. Was I already in the game?! I had passed out though, it didn't make sense. Unless everyone just got fed up with me being unconscious, and they had just decided to get the headgear on and stick me in here. But I robotic voice soon spoke out "Level Generated. Prepare For Action!"

All I could do was gasp at what I was suddenly seeing. It seemed that I was on the balcony of some spacecraft, and endless stars were spread out below me. My wrist-watch had ceased glowing too, and the hologram had faded to nothing. But I couldn't even take notice of that, as my eyes were too busy scanning the vast amount of glittering stars, too beautiful to describe in words.

It wouldn't be the best idea to stay here forever, though, as there were other players I needed to find. Turning away from the star-filled void, there was a sliding glass door, which led to what seemed to be a bedroom. The room itself was very high-tech, with fancy showers and a white and cyan color-scheme. On the white table, a set of keys lay there, no doubt my own. I was right in my guess, as the name-tag connected to the set had my name written on it.

The door to whatever lay beyond my bedroom was locked, but my key got me through. That led me to a large hallway, which had various other doors throughout the hall, which I could only guess were the other players' rooms, as there were nameplates on them. At the end of the hall I found a small lounge, with some bookshelves and magazine racks, along with some couches, bean-bag chairs, and some various board games stacked on a shelf. But I found something that was pretty peculiar.

A pale-skinned individual with choppy, chin-length silver hair was sleeping on one of the couches, smiling in their sleep. Their bangs were cut right above the eyes, and swayed slightly to the left, and their face was dotted with freckles. Their sweatshirt had many stars and nebulae printed on it, along with some UFOs here and there. The pants they wore were just simple black pants, and their brown leather boots were ankle-length. As for accessories, they had a lot of bracelets and some rings, and they wore a necklace with an alien on it. They really fit the whole galactic theme of this place.

As if a person sleeping in a virtual reality game wasn't strange enough, another person sat next to them, gently shaking them. This person was short and chubby, and their lavender hair was done in an angled bob style, and their bangs were clipped back with a star hairpin. They wore a black tank-top with a pink gradient, matching well with their dark brown eyes, yet one sleeve was wrist-length, also having a pink gradient. On that arm they had what seemed to be some old Nintendo power glove, and their skirt was ankle-length and pink, giving them a feminine appearance. As for shoes, they had some old brown sandals.

"Uh, hey, excuse me." I said, approaching them. The short one seemed awfully surprised, and they let out a gasp and almost jumped out of their seat, their mouth wide open, as if they were about to scream. "Sorry, did I scare you...?"

"Mmm...No, it's fine..I'm just surprised easily, I suppose..." They mumbled quietly. It took me a moment to understand what they said.

"Why is this person sleeping anyways?" I asked, pointing to the alien kid. The one that was awake answered, after taking a moment to think.

"Uh, Rieka is just a bit tired...I can understand, as xe has been suddenly transported to a...Well, bewildering place like this..." Ah, so the alien-kid went by xe/xyr/xem pronouns, that'd be good to take note of. I waited a moment for the other one to say more, but they just looked away, twiddling their thumbs.

"Yeah, I can understand why too, I guess. My name's Fiona Quinn, the SHSL Alternative Gamer, along with the best girl in New York!" Yeah, being upbeat my encourage the little one a bit. It must've helped, as they sat up straight, and and nodded.

"My name is Ji-Hae Khang. I'm the.., um, SHSL MMORPG Player...People know me as Popujo online...So that's what most people, um, call me." They answered, their voice still being a bit quiet. They put on a smile, but it wasn't hard to tell that they were forcing it.

 **Our Shy Competitive Gamer:**

 **JI-HAE KHANG**

 **SHSL MMORPG PLAYER**

"Oh yeah, I've heard of him, or well, you! You're that guy who ranks the best of the best in Starcraft2 and World of Warcraft, aren't you?" I was actually kind of impressed. But this person didn't seem at all the spunky, sarcastic guy who completely owned people online. He was too shy and feminine to be like that.

"W-Well, I'm not actually a guy, so...I'm not really sure..I just go with gender-neutral pronouns and stuff, yeah..." Okay, so my initial assumption was correct, they are somewhere in the nonbinary spectrum.

"Ugh, with you guys talking, you're interrupting my sleep...Guess I'd better get up." Rieka suddenly said, sitting up, then proceeding to yawn. Ji-Hae and I were a bit surprised, we didn't expect that xe would get up on xyr own. "Oh, who's this, Ji-Hae?" Before Ji-hae could respond, I introduced myself on my own.

"The name's Fiona Quinn, SHSL Alternative Gamer! Nice to meet you, Rieka, right?" Xe nodded, then introduced xyrself officially.

"My full name's Rieka Bellerose, fancy, I know. But just call me Rieka, like you've been doing. My talent is being the SHSL Sound Designer, so as you could guess, music is my thing." Xe smiled, and it was more genuine than I first expected from xem. I guess xe are less lazy and stubborn than I thought.

 **Our Lazy Alien Enthusiast:**

 **RIEKA BELLEROSE**

 **SHSL SOUND DESIGNER**

"Nice to meet you guys. I'm gonna move on, find the other players, if you want to join me." I said, gesturing to the entryway to a big, circular room. Both of them shook their heads.

"I still need some time to wake up, if that's alright, m'kay?" Rieka asked, wiping xyr eye. Ji-Hae soon stated their reason to be left behind.

"Oh..Um, I'd just like to stay with Rieka until xyr is awake, you know...In case xe tries to go to sleep again..." They said, bowing their head politely. I nodded, and then took my leave. No need to pressure them to come with me.

The room I found myself in was a large, rounded room, with a transparent floor. Beneath my feet I could once again see the beautiful stars, and I had to force myself not to get lost in them again. There were a few other people here, most of them talking in pairs. I decided to approach the ones closest to me. "Hey!" I said, waving my hand. The people turned, and they seemed to be identical twins, and I almost couldn't tell them apart if it wasn't for their hair lengths and choice of leg wear.

They both had olive skin and light blue hair, the girl's hair being long and curly, while the boy's being short. Their eyes were also a bright blue, complimenting their hair color, while they both had a strange star birthmark on their cheeks, it being on the right for the girl, and the left for the boy. They both wore matching outfits, the boy having a white collared shirt, dark blue vest and dress pants, and black dress shoes. The girl wore a white blouse, dark blue vest and skirt, white tights, and black dress shoes, along with a blue bow.

"Oh, hello!" They both said in unison. It was creepy, they both greeted me at the exact same time. Both of them put on a big smile, which I returned, although a bit hesitantly.

"Yeah, hey, my name's Fiona Quinn, who are you guys?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"I'm Eins!" said the boy.

"I'm Zwei!" said the girl.

"And together we are..." Both said together, waving their hands dramatically. "The Terror Twins! Or the Star Twins, going by our birthmarks!" They said, as they pointed to their own cheeks.

 **Our Inseparable Twins:**

 **EINS AND ZWEI ETSUKO**

 **SHSL VOICE ACTOR AND ACTRESS**

"Ah..,um, alright..? Interesting..?" Oh man, now I'm starting to sound like Ji-Hae. The look of happiness on the Terror Twin's faces soon become a neutral expression, and they nodded.

"Are you creeped out by us?" Eins asked.

"Or are you disgusted by us?" Zwei asked, right after her brother asked a similar question.

"N-No, not at all! I've just never seen twins this close, that's all." I said, quickly covering up for myself. These twins are weird like, who talks like that? How?! Before the Terror twins could say more, a boy interrupted them.

"Hey dudes, you're creeping the girl out. Anybody in their right mind we be a bit nervous around you weirdos." He said, hands shoved into his pockets. He was the average height for a guy, and he had short black hair, along with red almond-shaped eyes. The beret he wore also was designed with a little Street Fighter motif, and his ears were pierced with punkish silver studs. The red jacket he wore had 4 pockets, each containing something, and from what I could see, they were hand-held consoles or controllers. For the bottom half of him, he just wore simple black slacks along with some sneakers.

"Excuse me..?" Both twins asked, narrowing their eyes at the boy. He groaned, before nodding.

"Yeah! With all of your fancy-shmancy talking in unison and shit, are you the kids from The Shining or something?"

"Zwei...?" Eins said, looking at his twin sister. She then said his name, and Eins replied. "Let's go and read a book in the lounge, shall we, sister?"

"Yes, brother, that would be splendid." Zwei replied, and then the two Terror Twins went through the arched hallway into the lounge, and were soon out of sight. The boy then sighed, walking up to me, then extending his hand.

"The name's Phil Kusunoki, the SHSL Fighting Game Champ! I hope you're glad I've got those two creepy-ass twins out of your way."

 **Our Reference-Boasting Friend:**

 **PHIL KUSUNOKI**

 **SHSL FIGHTING GAME CHAMP**

"Yeah, nice to meet you Phil! I'm Fiona Quinn, SHSL Alternative Gamer. By alternative, I mean I play games...Non-conventionally. By that, I mean I do really weird but cool crap!"

"Guys, are you done talking over there or what? Phil and I were kind of in the middle of a conversation..." stated an intimidating guy who walked over, frowning. He stood at least over 6 feet, and he had rich, tan skin, and messy black hair with the bangs covering his right eye, in true punk fashion. From what I could see, he had deep green eyes, and various piercings on his lip and eyebrows. He wore just a simple black hoodie and jeans, with chains hanging from his belt. His sneakers were also simple and red, with a black trim and shoelaces.

"Heh, sorry Kuzuri, I was just saving this fine lady from the harassment of two creeps." Phil said, turning towards the new guy, and patting him on the shoulder. The guy named Kuzuri froze, and he looked away from Phil.

"Y-Yeah, alright...Sorry about that...I just didn't want you to y-you know, abandon me and stuff..." Kuzuri said, trying to brush his bangs aside. Yet the bangs weren't going to listen to him, and as gravity does, they swooshed back over his eye.

"Hmm, yeah, I didn't mean to interrupt anything. If anything, Phil's the culprit here." I said, smirking. Phil laughed.

"Oh come on, just let me play hero for once, alright?!" He said, waving his hands defensively. Kuzuri tried to laugh too, though it came out a bit awkward and forced.

"Uh, yeah...My name's Kuzuri Inamine, it's nice to meet you! You're Fiona Quinn, right? I might've overheard parts of your guys' conversations. Oh, and I'm the SHSL Beta Tester, a funny coincidence, right?" Kuzuri said, going back to a more cheerful state. For a guy as big and intimidating as him, it looked like he was pretty bashful.

 **Our Intimidating But Huggable Punk:**

 **KUZURI INAMINE**

 **SHSL BETA TESTER**

"Hmm, yeah, nice to meet you guys! I hope we can do some good ol' shooting together, since this is a game and all, you know?" I said, shrugging. Both of the boys nodded. There was one other person in the room, distanced from everyone else. I felt sort of bad for her, so it'd be good to go and talk to her, right?

She had her brown hair kept in two big braids, and you could say she had a very doll-like appearance, if it wasn't for the fact that she looked overall pretty messy. She had a bit of a round face with chubby cheeks, very pale skin, and big black glasses. For clothing, she just wore an over-sized white sweatshirt, with the sleeves almost covering her hands, and some loose overalls were draped over her. Her shoes were floral-patterned rain boots, giving her a bit of a country-girl sort of feel. She wore a pink bangle bracelet on her wrist, and a dog tag necklace.

It seemed that she had noticed me as I was walking over to her, as she shot me a glance before turning her gaze back to the transparent floor, probably mesmerized by the beauty of the stars. "Hey, are you lonely over here?" I asked, smiling. But she replied with nothing, even though she had started to look at me again. After a few seconds though, she finally spoke.

"...Is that all that you want..? Is to say hello..?" She said, in a low voice.

"Well, I wanted to know your name and stuff, maybe get to to know you a bit. We are co-players, after all." I said, replying to her. She slowly nodded.

"I'm Eloise Eun-won Blanc, but call me Eun-won..."

 **Our Quiet And Cold Doll:**

 **ELOISE EUN-WON BLANC**

 **SHSL MOBILE GAMER**

"Woah, that's a pretty name! My name's pretty normal, but it's cool, don't you think?" I said, trying to cheer her up a little, thinking she may be sad.

"...Leave me alone." That was her reply, and I felt like I had just been rejected, because I had. I frowned and apologized, but got no reply. So I went through one of the many big doors in the room, this one having a sign by it that read "Arcade."

I think there's still 8 more to go, as there were 16 doors in that hallway with the rooms. I've already met some very interesting people, who else may I meet?

* * *

 **And that's it for the first part of the prologue! I really love all of the characters I've received. So, out of all of the character we've met so far, who do you all like? I'd love to know! I tried my hardest to keep them in-character, please tell me if I slip up or something.**


	3. Chapter 0-2 : Introductions

**Thank you for all of the advice and opinions I've gotten so far! I really appreciate it, and I'll try to do better this time. :O**

* * *

In the arcade, I found two girls. One was banging and kicking an arcade machine, while the other desperately tried to calm her down. "A-Ah, Lyra, please calm down! Are we certain that these machines even give out tokens?"

"Well, it better! I wanna get a prize!" The other one delivered a quick kick to the machine, her messy auburn bun bouncing as she moved. The machine seemed to be some cheesy racing game, the kind you see in every single arcade ever.

"Hey, let me try. Maybe I can get something out of it." I said, walking up to the two girls, they both turned around, a little surprised by my sudden intrusion. The shorter girl, aka the peace maker, smiled, and adjusted the headphones around her neck.

"Oh, that would be lovely, thank you! I don't really want Lyra here to cause any sudden damage to this place...Even if this is a video game." She said. "May I ask your name? We've mostly met everyone else here."

"I'm Fiona Quinn, SHSL Alternative Gamer! It's well..., an alternative sort of talent." I said, shrugging. It was pretty hard to explain my talent, so I put it as simple as could be.

"My name is Michiru Kagarazuka, but you can call me Mika! That's what I'm known as by most." The blonde said, now giving me something else to call her instead of random descriptions. One thing to note was the small cowlick on top of her head, that was cute. I was about to speak, but the one known as Lyra beat me.

"Hi there Fiona, I'm Lyra Minami! You may know me for being part of the totally awesome Youtube group, Hyperactive Cupcakes!" Lyra said, proudly pointing to her white t-shirt, where a logo was shown.

 **Our Bigender Cutie:**

 **MIKA KAGARAZUKA**

 **SHSL SPEEDRUNNER**

and

 **Our Peppy Youtuber:**

 **LYRA MINAMI**

 **SHSL COLLABORATIVE LET'S PLAYER**

"Yeah, cool. Okay, lemme get this thing started!" I said,sitting down at the machine. Only instead of putting my hands on the steering wheel, I sat back, and propped my feet up on top of it, ready to go.

"Woah, uh, that's not how you play it, Fiona!" Lyra said, confusion in her expression. I simply chuckled.

"I'm doing it the alternative style! Let's go!" With that, the game started, and I carefully moved my feet as the game went on, trying not to muck up. I was a bit tense, but sometimes you need to be that way for a challenge, or you get too easy on yourself and fail. I couldn't let that happen. But just as I was about to cross the finish line, some girl was suddenly sticking her hands over the top of the seat and touching my head.

"Damn, those are some good graphics! The cares are really detailed..." She said, making me look up to face her, thus messing up my concentration. She looked down at me with her hazel eyes, with the green slightly dominating the other colors. Bam, I had crossed the finish line in last place.

"Come on, I was just about to win, and I was gonna see if I could get myself some tokens! What's the big deal?" I asked, taking my feet off of the steering wheel. The girl grumbled, but soon smirked.

"Hey, when I see cute girls combined with good graphics, I get a little carried away~!" No, come on, don't blush Fiona, don't blush. Cool girls like you don't do that. You will not listen to your dumb brai- Oh and here comes the blush.

"Mmmm...!" I groaned, sitting up and shaking my fists. She's cute, dammit!

"Haha, did I get you all flustered? Oh man, don't take me seriously. I may have messed up your game, but I'm not the bad guy here, I'm just Magnolia Raine, your friendly neighborhood badass gay!" She said, flipping her long, golden hair.

 **Our Friendly Neighborhood Badass Gay:**

 **MAGNOLIA RAINE**

 **SHSL GAME DESIGNER**

As I was about to get a bit angrier, a boy walked in and put his hands on Magnolia's shoulders. "Magnolia, please don't cause too much trouble. We don't want to bother anyone here." He said, then turning his own hazel eyes towards me. "I apologize for my sister's behavior."

"She wasn't too much trouble, if you don't count completely mucking up my goddamn game!" I said, crossing my arms as I stood up. The boy put on a gentle smile, yet there were still hints of sadness in his face.

"She can be a bit too rowdy, but it's not my right to judge her. My name is King Raine, and I'm a strategist."

 **Our Kind Animal Lover (May Or May Not Be A Furry?):**

 **KING RAINE**

 **SHSL RPG GAME STRATEGIST**

"Nice to meet you, dude. I'm Fiona Quinn. Boy, am I glad that I have no siblings here with me..." I said, muttering to last part to myself. But I think King could hear me, as he lightly chuckled.

"It's my pleasure as well, Fiona...Oh!" As he finished with his sentence, our watches started lighting up and beeping, before a voice echoed throughout the room.

"Please report to the center room, the lobby! Your tutorial is about to start!" With that, the beeping stopped, and our watches stopped flashing. Mika sighed.

"Ah, well, I guess it's time for all of us to get going. We wouldn't want to miss anything crucial to our gaming experience, would we?" She said, turning and leaving the room, gesturing for us to follow. We all did, and we entered the lobby once again, where there were four people I hadn't met yet.

"Gasp...! Oh Beatriiiice!" One of the new boys shouted, sliding on his knees to Magnolia. She squinted at him and quirked an eyebrow, confused out of her mind.

"Dude, what the hell?" She said, looking down at the spiky red-haired boy.

"I have gathered the 16 sacrifices needed for your resurrection! The roulette has chosen the 6 for the first twilight, oh desire!" Holding both hands to his heart, the boy went on, leaving most of us standing there in awkward silence. Sacrifices..? What the heck?

"...Let me handle this." A girl standing in the corner of the room sighed, walking over to the crazy guy and pulling him away. Her dull eyes never opened all of the way, she just kept them squinted, making her look eternally annoyed.

"Wah..!? Come on, it was just a funny reference!" The guy yelled, gently pushing her away and standing up, dusting off his button-up shirt. "Why must I live in a world where nobody understands my visual novel references?"

"..." The girl said nothing, but closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then rubbing her temples.

"Alright, alright. I'll knock it off. Sorry for that everyone..! I just wanted to make a nice introduction, but I kind of fudged it up. My name's Junpei Yokata!"

 **Our Token Nerd:**

 **JUNPEI YOKATA**

 **SHSL VISUAL NOVEL WRITER**

"Uh...I'm Lazuli Liu? Is that what everyone wants, my name?" The girl with him asked, frowning. Everyone nodded, and she tilted her head towards the floor, a neutral expression resting on her face.

 **Our Stoic Recorder:**

 **LAZULI LIU**

 **SHSL LIVESTREAMER**

"There you go, Lazuli! But one other thing. When you introduce yourself, please put on a smile!" Junpei said, grinning wide as an example. Lazuli just walked away.

"Goodbye. I have no time for you..." She said, waving goodbye to Junpei as she walked back to her corner, her black bob bouncing up and down as she walked.

"Tch, way to impress a girl." A boy with aviators said, crossing his arms and smirking. "I thought that Magnolia was the worst with girls."

"Listen up you piece of-!" Magnolia said, being cut off by King placing his hand on her shoulder. Magnolia groaned and shut her mouth, while Junpei sighed.

"Jeez, harsh. I wasn't even hitting on her, dude." He said, shrugging.

"My name isn't 'dude', it's Riko Ito. Address me by that."

 **Our Aviator-wearing Jerk:**

 **RIKO ITO**

 **SHSL INDIE GAME DEVELOPER**

"Alright, Riko, no need to be rude." Junpei said, Lazuli in the background rolling her eyes. Everyone else just started to talk to each other, engaging in idle conversation. But as I was alone, the only other person without a partner approached me, scratching the back of his head.

"Uh, hey! I should've introduced myself earlier, eh? Maybe in a more interesting situation too." He said, holding out his hand. I took it, and we shook hands.

"Hey, no biggie. Introducing yourself normally isn't too bad. My name's Fiona Quinn, SHSL Alternative Gamer." I said, flashing a smile. He gave me one back, and started to fiddle with the alligator's tooth necklace around his neck.

"Nice to meet you, Fiona! My name's Luke Yamato, SHSL Horror Gamer."

 **Our Fearful Gamer:**

 **LUKE YAMATO**

 **SHSL HORROR GAMER**

"Horror gamer..? You don't really look like the type.." I said, looking over the cheerful boy. He chuckled lightly, looking at the floor.

""What? Were you expecting some creepy guy wearing a Grim Reaper's outfit, and talks about blood, gore, and other horrific stuff like that? Well, sorry to disappoint ya pal, but you got to deal with me instead." He said, smiling apologetically.

"So tell me," I said in a low voice. "Are you the type of guy who screams at every single thing in the universe?"

"Okay, come on now, don't compare me to those other guys. I'm pretty sturdy! At least with fictional stuff..." Luke rubbed the back of his neck, his smile still staying on his face.

"Ahh, I see. We'll have to test you out later, by making you play Amnesia: The Dark Descent with VR Goggles! Heh!" I proudly cackled, trying to sound as ridiculous as possible.

"I'll take that challenge! Whenever you feel up to it, call me, alright?" Luke stated, jabbing a finger to his chest. So for a few minutes, all of us students chatted about everyday things, but little did we know what awaited us...

* * *

"Welcome to GAME OVER, Beta testers!" A squeaky voice echoed over some microphone. "It's time for you to meet your session admin..." A drumroll started to play, and the hexagon-shaped platform in the middle of the room began to shake. Everyone quickly backed up, eager to meet our host. But instead, we were greeted with:

"I am...Monochu!" A..., monochrome Pikachu?

"Hmph, this is technically rated T for teen, we don't exactly need a silly furry dressed up as a kid's character for our administrator." Riko scoffed, adjusting his sunglasses. He was met with a loud, dramatic gasp for the thing called Monochu.

"Gasp...! You dare say that I'm unpure and filthy?! Don't accuse me of such rotten things, I am no furry!" It said, holding it's white and black paws to it's cheeks.

"Okay..." Rieka said, lazily pointing at the creature. "What if you're just a giant NERD? That makes a lot more sense."

"Guys, I don't think we should be jumping on our session admin like this..." Mika said, a hint of worry in her voice.

"Yes yes yes, I wholeheartedly agree with the girl with the cowlick!" Monochu said, proudly grinning. "I won't take any harassment from you youngsters and your edgy ways!"

"Nobody wants to-" Eins started, before Zwei finished his sentence.

"Get banned from the server.." She said, then they both said...

"Now do they?"

"I agree with the twins and Mika. Being rude to the person who's going to be teaching us all of the ropes in this game isn't a very good idea..." King said, pleasantly smiling. Everyone that hadn't protested yet, including me, groaned and agreed that we wouldn't harass Monochu.

"Great! I'm glad we've got all of that settled." Monochu said. "Now it's time to get this party started...! Welcome to GAME OVER, the sensational virtual reality game made by Hope's Peak Gaming of America! You're going to stay here forever, fighting monsters and villians!"

"What the hell? Stuck here, yeah right! E can just log out, can't we?" Kuzuri remarked, pointing to his wrist-watch. Monochu shook it's head.

"I've disabled logging out, messing with settings, server commands, and map teleportation! Just try it for yourselves if you're that desperate, kihihihi!" It laughed in a creepy, yet feminine manner, it's squeaky voice hurting some of our ears.

"So..." Eun-Won mumbled, her eyes gazing at the stars beneath the floor. "We can't get out...Why?"

"Because it's not just monsters you're going to be killing, it's eachother! Who wants to here the rules~?" Monochu squealed, clapping it's hands together in delight. This...This is crazy! This has gotta be a joke...

"...I wouldn't mind hearing the rules." Lazuli answered, her usual deadpan expression still on her face, though there was still a bit of nervousness in her voice.

"Yeah, give us the deets, dude." Phil said, shrugging in a sarcastic manner as he glared at Monochu.

"Kihihi, you gotcha! As you know, you're in a virtual reality game, only there's twist... **If you die here, you die in real life!** I know, you must be thinking how and why, but here's the answer! If you get killed by one of your teammates here, your body in reality will be incinerated. Goodbye and good riddance to anyone who gets a "GAME OVER" here!" Monochu cackled, completely ignoring the shocked looks on everybody's faces.

"No...No..I can't take this...This has got to be fake...I've got to be dreaming...!" Ji-Hae cried, collapsing on the floor. Their hands were pressed against their head, tears flowing down their cheeks.

"Look what you've done, you bastard!" Lyra shouted, pointing at Monochu with one hand and at Ji-Hae with the other. "Making our innocent, cute friend cry! You're despicable! Let us out of here right now!"

"There is a way to get, you know...Kill somebody. To make it clearer, kill somebody, and get away with it. We'll even have a trial and investigation, just to make it even more despairingly fun!" Monochu announced, crossing it's arms and grinning proudly. That was what delivered the final blow to our mental state. Everyone's gaze turned from one to the other, nobody sure who to trust anymore.

"I hate to admit it, everyone..." Magnolia said bluntly, speaking up after a minute or two of the crippling tension. "But standing around here isn't going to do us any good, you know? I know it's scary but...Nobody is that much of an idiot to kill someone, that's just absurd."

"Magnolia is right...I suggest that we all head back to our rooms for the rest of the night. Well, at least, my watch says that it's approaching 6:00." Junpei agreed, gazing down at his wrist-watch. Everyone let out a quiet "Mmm" and we all parted ways, our minds clouded with stress and uneasiness.

* * *

In my room, I leaned against the balcony, gazing out into the sea of stars. This had to be a joke, right...? There's no way any of us would kill someone, or at least, that was my opinion on the matter. Some of the people here aren't the brightest, I wonder if they might go through with it? I hope not.

I probably just stood there thinking about my life, family, and friends for about an hour, and I could've done that well into the night, but I was snapped out of my trance by the tv in my room behind me flickering on.

"It is now 8:00 PM, and officially nighttime. During this period, your showers will turn off, only to be turned back on at 5:00 AM, and the cafeteria will be closed, only to be opened back up at 7:00 AM. Sweet dreams, everyone. Just remember though, this has only been the tutorial of GAME OVER, and there's still more to go, kihihi!"

* * *

 **Sorry this took a while, I've been procrastinating, and I may or may not have been really involved in a visual novel, like the nerd I am.**

 **Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed your incredible Mononimal, as I have coined it (If any of you use this term I will love you thanks), Mono Pikachu! I thought about doing something normal, but then I said "Hell, let's make it Pikachu! That's gaming related!"**

 **I'm also glad that I've been doing well with all of your characters so far, and I appreciate the feedback! I've tried to improve my skills while writing this chapter.**

 **Haha, nobody is going to understand Junpei's visual novel reference...Hahaha...*Cries in a pool of my own tears***

 **I hope you'll continue to read GAME OVER! While I'm at it, it's time to send in some votes for freetimes!**

 **I'm also including a special freetime, that there will be more of in every freetime period. In Freetime X2, you can vote for a pair of characters from the list I'll provide, and Fiona won't talk to only one of the,, but both at the same time! So you'll get development of both characters, and see their relationship with eachother!**

 **Today's FREETIME X2 pairs are:**

 **-Eins and Zwei**

 **-Rieka and Ji-Hae**

 **-Mika and Phil**

 **So vote now, dear spectators! I hope that this new mechanic I'm introducing goes well!**


	4. Chapter 1-1 : Freetimes and Motives

"Good morning, players! It is now 7:00 AM, and officially daytime. Have a nice day everyone!" The screen displaying Monochu faded to black, leaving my room silent once again. However, in my half-asleep situation, I could barely make out the words.

"Jesus, Gunner, gimme one more minute!" I groaned, pulling the covers over my head. However, my brief memories of home were interrupted by somebody knocking on my door. This made me realize that I wasn't with my parents and brothers, as my brothers would never knock on my door to wake me up. So I stood up, rubbing my eyes, and headed over to the door, unlocking it, then opening it.

"Hello, Fiona." I was greeted with Lazuli, who game me a quick bow. "Junpei and I decided to wake up all of the people who weren't early birds, such as you."

"Aaaah, really?" I asked, groaning as I stretched my arms. "Well, I guess it's for the best, or I could've slept for-" I interrupted myself with a yawn.

"I wouldn't really mind it if you went back to bed, but others may oppose to the idea..." Lazuli sighed, holding up her chin with her hand. We both looked over at the other side of the hall, where Junpei was trying to get Eun-Won to leave her room.

"Pretty please...?! You might miss something important!" Junpei was pleading with Eun-Won, who peeked out from behind the door frame.

"...I said, leave me alone..." Eun-Won muttered, clutching the sides of the door frame, looking away from Junpei. As we looked on at the two drastically different people, Lazuli just shook her head and left, probably heading towards the lounge or cafeteria. I walked over to Junpei, and tried my hand at encouraging Eun-Won.

"Hey, Eun-Won! You can take your time, alright? No need to rush yourself in getting ready to come out, you know~~" I elbowed Junpei as I said this, and he awkwardly agreed with me, mumbling a faint "Yeah..."

"Mmm...I'll see you soon out there..." Eun-Won said quietly, still not turning her gaze towards us. With that, she shut her door, leaving me confused to whether she was going to come out, or if she wasn't.

"Well..." Junpei whispered to me, leaning over slightly. "We did something. Thanks for that, Fiona."

"No problem, dude. I thought instead of pathetically pleading with her, you could've just been positive and nice, you know?" I said, shrugging with a grin on my face. Junpei didn't catch my sarcasm, and just chuckled nervously.

"Well, I'm going to go to the cafeteria, since my job is done. You coming?" Junpei asked, as he started to leave the hallway.

"Yeah, sure." I nodded, following him. We both went to the cafeteria, where I sat down at a table beside Riko. He shot a glance at me, his expression his by his aviators, though I knew it certainly wasn't a pleasant look.

"You know, Fiona, it's rare for me to let a fan actually sit by me." He said, scoffing.

"Did I ever say I was a fan, dude?" I grinned, before sticking out my tongue at him. Riko simply let out a "Hmph!" and looked away. Soon everyone else started piling up in the cafeteria, most of them visibly tired or hungry.

"Uhh...Who's going to make breakfast? I don't wanna." Rieka said, rocking xyr chair. A few people agreed that they didn't want to do such a thing, but Riko, who had basically appointed himself leader, spoke up.

"How about we do cooking duty? Every day somebody else does the dirty deed. We'll all go in a cycle, and once the last person had done their job, the person who did it first will pick up from there."

"I guess I can volunteer.." King said, smiling in his usual gentle fashion. "Would you like to help, Magnolia?"

"Hey, I'm no girl who belongs in the kitchen, sorry man." Magnolia replied, sitting up straight, as she had been slouching down in her seat. I felt a bit bad for King, being turned down by his sister, and besides, nobody else seemed willing to help.

"I wouldn't mind helping you, King. Despite how I may look, I know my way around an oven!" I chuckled.

"Well, any help would be appreciated. Let's get started! A healthy breakfast is the best way to start the day!" He said, standing up. I followed him into the large kitchen, which looked pretty normal compared to the rest of the futuristic rooms in here.

We both decided to start out with something simple, chicken biscuits. King was the one who was getting to biscuits ready, while I offered to cook the chicken patties. I was pretty used to making food, mostly because I was cooking for my little brothers, so this wasn't anything new. It was nice to have some help, though.

"Hey, Fiona?" King asked, looking over at me. I raised my eyebrows a bit as I turned my gaze over to him.

"Whatcha need? I'm fine taking over any other jobs, if that's what you want." I replied, doing my signature shrug. I seem to do that a lot, don't I?

"Oh no, it's nothing like that! I just wanted to know something. Why did you decide to take up the offer for this whole beta testing deal? If that's a hard question, feel free to ignore me.." He said, doing a quick bow before getting ready to place the chicken on the biscuits.

"Why I decided to come here...? That's easy. Hope's Peak Gaming may be a relatively new company, but dang, they're impressive! The games they've released were revolutionary in the gaming industry and stuff, why wouldn't I agree to beta test this?" I replied, handing over some chicken patties, while wearing gloves, of course!

"Yes, I guessed that. It's just that this whole situation seems...Extremely off to me. Do you understand?"

"What, with the whole killing game and stuff?" I said, trying to think about the whole situation we were in. "The way that we're basically trapped in here is really weird, too..."

"Mmm, true." King nodded, finishing up the biscuits and placing them on plates. "It scares me a little. Do you think someone would actually,...hurt someone? No, _kill_ someone?"

"I honestly don't think anyone here is dumb enough to do that, even though a few of us players are a bit brain-numb." I answered, tapping my cheek with my finger. King just silently agreed, and we both gave everyone their meals, much to their happiness.

"Thank you, Fiona!" Eins called out, smiling in unison with Zwei.

"Thank you, King!" Zwei finished. The twins then dived into their food, even though it wasn't that revolutionary of a meal.

After breakfast, I headed back to my room after having small chats with everyone else. All of this is as strange as King says, when I think about it. For being in a video game, we haven't been doing anything that people in a game would do. No fighting monsters, bad guys, or anything. Just everyday life, that's all. Even all of our needs are the same, we still have to eat, drink, and keep up our hygiene. I really wonder what's going on...

Anyways, I don't really have anything planned for the rest of the day...I wonder what I should do?

 **==FREETIME==**

 **WHERE: LOBBY**

 **WHO: KUZURI INAMINE**

I was on my way to the arcade, hoping to pass some time, but in the lobby I ran into Kuzuri. He seemed to be staring at a wall on the side of the room, sometimes running a hand over or it. I decided to ask what he was doing. "Hey, Kuzuri. Whatcha doing?"

"O-Oh, hi, Fiona..." Kuzuri said, quickly turning around. He gave me a nervous smile, waving awkwardly. "I was just examining this wall, that's all."

"But...Why are you feeling up a wall? Sad that you can't feel up a real person?" I chuckled, hands on my hips.

"Hey, come on, I'm not that desperate. There's just something strange about this wall. It feels as though it's not really a wall, more like a barrier." He said, crossing his arms with more of a serious expression on his face. I walked over and touched the wall in question, but I didn't see anything weird about it.

"Dude, it's just like, a wall. Do you think it's an exit way or something, one that's been blocked?" I inquired, looking more closely at the corners.

"Yeah, something like that. See how there's a faint light coming from the cracks on the sides of it? I looked at the other walls, but none of them had those little seams in them. That's why I believe that we're being locked out of something. Whether this be the exit, a set of stairs, another hallway, or whatever." Kuzuri explained, pointing at the small spots where lights poked out from the wall. I nodded, understanding what he was saying.

"Well, you're making me curious...Now I wanna find a way to get through this thing!" I exclaimed, proudly puffing out my chest.

"Oh, don't think you'll get through there that easily!" a squeaky voice shouted. Before I was even aware of who had said it, an object that was quite heavy fell on my head, making me fall to my knees because of the weight.

"Monochu..?! The creepy rat robot?" Kuzuri yelped, jumping back. "Oh come on, you little shit! Don't scare us like that!"

"O-Ow..." I whimpered, feeling a bit dizzy. Monochu simply cackled, jumping to the floor. I stood back up, rubbing my head. Boy, for a martial artist wannabe, that sure hurt me...

"Kihihihi, that's what you get for thinking about breaking down this door, young lady!" Monochu said, jabbing my knee with a weird paw, as it was too short to reach my chest.

"What? I never said I was gonna break it down!" I shouted, trying to explain myself.

"Yeah, actually, Fiona..." Kuzuri murmured. "You were totally thinking about breaking down that door. For the short time I've known you, it seems extremely likely that you'd think that." Crap, I was caught.

"Okay, okay, maybe I did. But how do you think we're gonna get through there anyways?" I shrugged, furrowing my brow.

"You admitted that so easily..." Monochu mumbled. "I was hoping to be able to tease you a bit, kihihi!"

"Ugh, I hate you, little piece of shit! Stop annoying us!" Kuzuri grumbled, clenching his fists. He tried to kick the robotic mascot, but Monochu dodged easily, disappearing behind a corner.

"You were lucky you didn't hit Monochu. That little thing's a booger, who knows what it could've done." I said, patting Kuzuri on the shoulder. He frowned, still a bit annoyed.

"If only I could have gotten it. I'd go through anything if it means I could beat up that thing..." He said under his breath, looking down at the floor.

"Well, man, I'm sorry about this. I wish I hadn't been thinking of busting down the door/wall thing..." I apologized, feeling a beat of sweat run down my neck.

"Yeah, it's fine. I shouldn't have gotten angry like that." Kuzuri said, closing his eyes. "I'm gonna go get some water to drink. See you later, Fiona." He walked off towards the cafeteria, and I felt a bit guilty as we parted ways.

 **==FREETIME==**

 **WHERE: ARCADE**

 **WHO: MIKA KAGARAZUKA**

After the encounter with Kuzuri, I headed to my original destination, the arcade. There I found Mika, who seemed to be messing with one of the arcade cabinets, the one in question being a fighting game. "Hey Mika! Whatcha doing?" I said, saying the same thing I had said to Kuzuri earlier. Man, I'm a bit repetitive, I guess. Mika turned away from the cabinet, smiling gently.

"Hello Fiona! I was trying to figure out how to activate the debug menu in this game, you see. That way I can see if I can exploit anything, you know, just to see what it does."

"So like, cheating or glitching it out and stuff? Man, I love glitches. Especially when I can use them to make playing the game a challenge!" I said, pumping my fist. Mika agreed happily, before turning back to the cabinet.

"A long time ago I played this game, and I remember finding the debug menu. But since it was years ago, I don't know how I did it." She confessed, breathing out a tiny sigh.

"Ah, wait. The game is Crazy Combat, I know this one! You have to go to the stage select, and do the Konami code. You know that code, right?" I said, walking over to the arcade cabinet. An imaginary light-bulb then appeared over Mika's head.

"Wait, I remember when you made a video on Crazy Combat! A few months ago on your Youtube channel, right?"

"Y-You watch my channel?!" I said, jumping back a bit in surprise. Mika nodded.

"Yeah, though I don't really like your choices of..., language, you know..?" She said awkwardly, smiling nervously. I guess I do tend to curse a lot...

"Well," I said. "Sorry, I guess? It just slips out, alright?"

"O-Oh no, I didn't mean to be rude or anything!" The panicking Mika said, waving her hands frantically. I simply laughed it off.

"Hey, don't worry, I didn't mean that I was mad or anything. Most people don't really care about Youtubers cursing now and stuff." I shrugged. Man, I really do that a lot. Maybe I'm just not very good with body language.

"True...But may I say, I'm a big fan of yours! It's crazy that I'm actually meeting you face-to-face..." She said, clasping her hands together.

"Wow, really? I wasn't expecting that anyone here would be a fan of mine or something."

"I'm actually a fan of a lot of the people here...I've just been trying to contain my knowledge and excitement, hehehe." Mika chuckled, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Yeah, I've heard of a few people here, but I just didn't wanna come off as weird or anything, you know?" I said, a bit of a confused look on my face.

"Me too, I understand! By the way, does that mean that you've heard of me?" Mika asked, frowning for a moment.

"Oh, yeah! I've checked out your channel once or twice. Your use of glitches really interests me, because I like messing around with them" I said, putting on a smile.

"You've heard of me? I mean, sure, I broadcast daily and speedrun games, but _you've_ heard of _me_? Wow, it's- I mean, wow! It's an honour that someone like you knows about me!" Mika gushed, her face red with a mix of respect and embarassment.

"Heh, it's no big deal, but I'm glad you're happy about that." I said, puffing out my chest a bit proudly. For a few seconds Mika just smiled cutely and laughed, but then she suddenly gasped.

"Oh no, I promised Phil that I was going to help him with making lunch. Waaah, I'm so sorry, Fiona!"

"No no no, it's alright. You gotta keep those promises,, and I won't be stopping you. Hey, I'll even help out too, if you don't mind." I offered, unknowingly picking at the bandages on my hands.

"That would be delightful, thank you! I don't think Phil will be bothered with you helping either, he isn't the sort of guy to get mad at a thing like that." Mika cheerfully said, rocking on her heels.

 **==FREETIME X2==**

 **WHERE: KITCHEN**

 **WHO X1: MIKA KAGARAZUKA**

 **WHO X2: PHIL KUSUNOKI**

In the kitchen, Phil and Mika were trying to make sandwiches for everyone. Phil had agreed to help me out, as Mika and he both said that they sucked at cooking.

"So, Fiona," Phil said. "Would it be alright if you could cook something up? Like, I don't know, something for lunch?"

"Uh, yeah, sure! Would some simple rice be okay?" I asked, rummaging through the kitchen cabinets.

"Yeah, that'd be great! Thanks, dude." Phil answered, putting another finished ham sandwich on a platter.

"Thanks for offering to help, Fiona. If it was just Phil and I making the food, it would probably turn out very bland...Or even just bad." Mika chuckled with embarrassment.

"Hey, no problem. I'm used to some of this stuff, with little brothers and all." I said, doing the signature shrug. How do I stop that?!

After we were finished cooking, we all sat down at our own little see-through table. We had called everyone else into the cafeteria too, so most of them were eating and chatting away, except for the more antisocial people.

"So, guys.." Phil said. "What games do you exactly play? I know all of are like, gaming talents and crap, but I kinda want the whole story, you know?"

"Hehe, I speedrun games, that's all! I mostly play horror games though, they're my favorite! Except stuff with clowns..." Mika said, looking away as she said 'clowns.'

"I do weird stuff. Like, I've had to explain this to sooooo many people, but I'm an alternative gamer. That means I do stuff like play Mario Galaxy with a Guitar Hero controller or get all of the achievements in one sitting, that kind of stuff." I explained, like I have to do to everyone who first hears about my talent.

"Those are both pretty cool talents. Fighting games are my specialty. When I get pumped up, I'm just like Daigo Umehara, right in the zone!" Phil happily said, pumping his fist. Mika and I laughed, and Mika's smile was wide, full of admiration for Phil.

"Have you ever played Thrill Kill, Phil?" Mika asked, before letting out a small chuckle. "Oh, that rhymes, doesn't it?"

"Thrill Kill? You mean the controversial, violent, canceled Playstation game?! Yeah, I do! I main Tormentor, but Belladonna is best girl." Phil claimed, leaning on his elbow.

"I like Violet the most, to be honest!" Mika cheerfully said. I think I had heard of that game, found it leaked on the internet by the developers, since no company would publish it.

"Violet's the one who hates dudes, right?" I asked. "Mammoth is my favorite, with Dr. Faustus coming close. Like, evil hulk and and tinier, more evil Napoleon? Best characters ever!"

So our little group chatted away about violent, controversial games until lunch ended, happy as could be.

* * *

"Students, please report to the lobby. I have a special surprise for you, kihihi!" The TV displaying Monochu then flickered off, leaving my bedroom in silence once more. I had been casually reading some comics that were on a bookshelf in my room. I'm glad that my room wasn't too empty, even if the books there weren't that good.

In the lobby, I joined everyone else, who all seemed to be either nervous or annoyed. As I arrived, the same thing happened once again, where the circular panel in the middle of the room rose up, like an elevator for Monochu.

"What do you need this time?" Kuzuri grumbled, clenching his fists at his sides.

"I know that it's only been a day, but you're all so boring, bleeehhh! Just get to murdering people already, 'kay guys?" Monochu giggled femininely, holding a paw to it's mechanical mouth.

"We're not stupid..." Eun-Won said in a low voice. "Why would any of us..., kill people?"

"Because I'm giving you all a motive, that's why! Murder without any meaning to it is no fun, so I've prepared some things for you!" A compartment in Monochu's robo-belly opened, revealing a stack of envelopes. It handed one to each person in the room, before saying "Now open your respective envelopes and read the letter! No telling anybody what it says, or you'll be punished!"

I ripped open my envelope and took a peek at the slip of paper inside. It said...what? Okay, now that's kind of funny, I admit. "Phil Kusunoki has a fetish for crossdressing boys! The person who received your secret is: Magnolia Raine!" So I guess everybody received a secret of somebody else's, along with who got theirs.

Riko smirked, pulling his shades down his nose a bit. "Hmph, mine's a bit amusing, but it's nothing serious. Actually, it's pretty boring. Kudos to whoever got these secrets in the first place."

"Aren't they great?!" Monochu said proudly. "But here's the thing. If you don't murder someone before tomorrow morning, aka 7:00 AM, everyone's embarrassing secret will be revealed! How's that for a motive?"

"So...We're not allowed to tell anyone what's on our cards?" Luke asked, looking a bit confused.

"Nope, no telling anyone! Or you'll get one of my top tier punishments, which may involve being speared to death, dismembered, disemboweled, or worse!" Monochu proclaimed, much to our horror. "Now, it's almost 8:00 PM, so you all better go on and scamper back to your little rooms! Stay safe tonight~" Monochu gave everyone a little imaginary kiss, letting out a loud "Mwa!" as it did it.

Everyone hesitantly retreated to their rooms, no doubt afraid of what might happen. I even took extra measures after locking my door, as I pushed a chair up against the door to make it harder to get in.

I'm starting to doubt that this is a joke now...But remember, we're in a virtual reality GAME, right? There's no way we'd actually feel pain, or even die in real life, right...?

* * *

 **Sorry this chapter took so long! I've been busy with a few things~  
But I've already got the first murder planned out, so stay tuned! May I ask though, who's everyone's favorite character so far? And who's your least favorite?**


	5. Chapter 1-2 : First Blood

Looking at the clock, I could tell that it was too early for me to be waking up, but I decided that I needed a good shower. Last night had taken its toll on me, and though I had slept, I woke up numerous times, stress building up inside of me.

Luckily, it was already 5:00 AM, so the showers had turned on. The warm water felt excellent, wiping away the fatigue that had been bothering me all night. I really wondered if somebody had taken the plunge and killed someone. No...It was impossible, none of us would do that...

Dressing up in my everyday clothes, after giving them a quick wash in the sink to clean them somehow, I left my room and stood in front of the cafeteria, waiting for it to open. It was lonely out in the empty corridor, so I hummed old 90's pop tunes to myself as I waited. For some reason my nose was stinging, possibly because of tears I might have shed without my knowledge. I don't think I'm the type to cry though.

Eventually, Phil walked into the hallway, a frown clouding his usually perky expression. You could almost feel an aura of sadness hanging around him, it was pretty disheartening. "Hey, Phil? You alright?" I asked, leaning against the wall with my arms crossed.

"Yeah, it's just...Last night..." Phil sighed, his eyes focusing on the floor. "Never mind, it's nothing. Nothing at all."

"If that's what you say...It's gonna be 7:00 AM soon, so we can just hang out here and wait for the cafeteria to open, and for everyone else to wake up, 'kay?" I said, trying to put on a smile, hoping to cheer him up a bit. Phil nodded, and took a seat on the floor beside me, his eyes clouded with stress. Man, he must've had a rough night. Can't blame him though.

"Good morning! Is...everyone alright?" Lyra asked, halfheartedly skipping to the door. Phil and I nodded weakly, not really feeling good enough to say anything. Lyra nervously laughed, yet she seemed just as tired as the rest of us. "Mika's coming soon, too. I bumped into her on the way here. She was doing something, I don't know what, though."

Lyra was correct, as Mika and a few others came dragging themselves to the door, right after the morning announcement from Monochu was made. The group included Mika, Junpei, Riko, Luke, and Lazuli, all of them seeming down as well. "I tried waking the others up, but none of them answered their doors, sorry about that." Mika said.

"Ah, well, too bad, I guess. I can understand why they might not want to answer the door though, even if the announcement was already made." I shrugged.

"Hey, hold on a moment." Riko suddenly said, tipping his shades down. "It's 7:00 AM now, right? Didn't Monochu say that our secrets would be revealed now?" Just after he said that, the robotic mascot walked through the cafeteria doors, grinning.

"Don't you all remember how the motive worked, dummys? If somebody was killed, no secrets will be revealed! Jeez, you're all so duuuumb, kihihi!" Those words hit us like a freight train, right then and there.

"D-Does that mean..., that somebody..., killed someone?! One of us is dead?" Luke cried out, his mouth wide open in shock. Everyone else looked equally as stunned.

"I suggest that we arrange search parties." Lazuli stated, tapping her chin. "If we do that, we might be able to find a body...If the whole motive wasn't a lie in the first place."

"But, guys..." I muttered. "Have none of you really noticed that smell? It's sort of like...blood." My face grew dark as I suddenly realized that the stench that had been stinging my nose smelled shockingly similar to blood.

"Now that you mention it..." Phil stood up, his eyes narrowed, and walked to the circular lobby, sniffing around. "It smells like it's coming from...The arcade." He walked over to the arcade, and for a moment, Phil could only stutter, making no sense at all to the rest of us.

"Phil, did you find something?" Mika asked, slowly approaching her fellow gamer. Luke then let out a scream, grasping his head with his hands.

"K-K-Kuzuri! No, no, nooo!"

 **The stench was coming from the body on the arcade floor, with blood spilling out onto the carpet. The body seemed shockingly similar to Kuzuri Inamine, who we had considered our friend. His face was obscured by blood, and his head was almost unrecognizable, completely destroying his identity. A purple stake was stabbed in the area where his forehead would be, giving the scene a supernatural feel.**

 **Our friend, Kuzuri Inamine...Was dead.**

"This all looks too alike..." Junpei said, his face stuck in a dumbstruck smile. "The stake...His head...Now I know we're in a video game! This is the work of the witch, Beatrice! Both the first and second twilights were combined into one, bloody mess!"

"Kuzuri...That was...Kuzuri?" Lyra asked, her legs wobbling as she desperately tried to gain her composure. Phil dropped the ground on his knees, crying wildly.

"It's my fault...It's all my fault...If I hadn't done that..." He cried, covering his face with his hands. None of us understood what he meant, though I could tell that some of us had a sneaking suspicion that Phil was the one responsible for Kuzuri's death.

" _ **A body has been discovered! You will all be given a certain amount of time to investigate, and then, you'll all find the culprit in the class trial!"**_ Monochu's announcement then ended, leaving us all in awkward silence again. The only thing we could hear was Phil's sobs.

"Guys...What's going o-" Eun-won paused as she walked into the room, then immediately turned her eyes away from the scene, biting her lip. "Who was it...that died? This isn't real, right? We're in a game..." The other missing students then shuffled into the room, a few of them screaming.

"W-Whoever did this to Phil is gonna get a beating! They deserve to feel what he did!" Magnolia shouted, pounding her fist into her open palm. King closed his eyes, wiping some stray tears away from them. The small Ji-Hae also fell to the floor crying, while Rieka patted their shoulder, trying to calm them down.

"We've got everyone here now, right...?" Eun-won asked, now getting the courage to look at the crime scene before her. "Monochu says we have to investigate, so we can't all stand around here...Well, crying...and screaming...and wallowing in your own tears."

"I guess you're right..." I said, wiping away a tear that was about to roll down my cheek. "Here, I volunteer to do it. I'll get to the bottom of this, and find who killed our friend! We shared nice times together in the short time I knew him, and I can't believe someone who take him away so quickly..." Getting done with my short funeral speech, everyone else nodded, trying to regain their composure.

"I know this is hard for everyone..." Mika said, smiling sadly. "But we should all try our best to find the culprit. Thank you for volunteering, Fiona, and I suppose you're going to help too, right, Eun-won?"

"Yeah, I am...Don't make too much of a deal about it, alright?" Eun-won mumbled, looking away with a bit of embarrassment in her expression.

It's time to find out what happened to our friend...Am I really smart enough to do this? Yeah..Yeah, I am! I'll find out who killed Kuzuri!

== **INVESTIGATE ==**

"First..!" Monochu said, suddenly popping up out of nowhere "I'm giving you my special hint hotline, as I call it..It's the Monochu File! It has all of the main details of the death, as a starting point for you all!"

" _ **The victim was Kuzuri Inamine, who died from blunt force trauma to the head.**_

 _ **His body was found in the arcade, and he died at around 11:00 PM.**_

 _ **A strange stake was also found puncturing his forehead."**_

 _ **==EVIDENCE RECEIVED-MONOCHU FILE==**_

So that's the main gist of it, huh? I think that's enough to get me on a roll. Time to investigate!

==Kuzuri's Body==

It was hard to look at his body...But I managed to get the courage to look at the grisly sight. Boy, it was a bloody mess. But Kuzuri was out in the real world now, alive, right...?

Anyways, his head was almost unrecognizable because of the injuries he had received, and a strange stake was stuck in his head.

It seemed to have an intricate design on it? Weird.

"They really did a number on him, didn't they..?" Eun-won said, appearing behind me.

"Yeah...It's sad...But he's happy and alive in reality, right?" I asked.

"I hope so..." Eun-won said quietly, with a tinge of sadness in her eyes.

 _ **==EVIDENCE RECEIVED-STATE OF THE BODY==**_

 _ **==EVIDENCE RECEIVED-STAKE==**_

==Wire==

Hmm, there's something on the floor here, near the door...It's a wire?

I wonder what it's here for...It doesn't look like just a string, it's pretty thick.

Now that I think of it, the arcade machine over there is off. Was this cut off from it?

 _ **==EVIDENCE RECEIVED-WIRE==**_

==Eun-won==

"Hey, Eun-won? Have you found anything?" I asked, walking up to the shy girl.

"No, not really...Only the most obvious things..." She answered, crossing her arms and glancing down at the floor.

"Hey, we're in on this together. So if you find anything, tell me, okay girl?" I said, trying to give her a fistbump. She wouldn't cooperate.

"D-Don't act like we're friends or anything, alright? You wouldn't like me if you knew more about me..." She answered coldly, with a frown on her face.

"I don't know, you seem perfectly fine to me. I'm pretty sure you're not some horrible criminal or something, you're too shy."

"Too shy..?" Eun-won asked, balling her hand into a fist. "I have a reason, you know..."

"Then what's your problem, friend?" I said, putting my hands on my hips. She didn't reply.

==Phil==

Phil was still crying, but he seemed to be getting a bit more calm, so I decided to ask him some questions.

"Hey, Phil. Do you have anything to contribute on this case? Anything helps, really."

"Well..." He let out a sniff. "Last night, before the murder, I was talking to Kuzuri. I accidentally made him upset, and maybe even a little mad...If I hadn't done that, he might still be alive..."

"Why was he upset? What did you say to him? I can't imagine a guy like him getting worked up over something so easily." I inquired.

"I'm sorry, but it's a secret, alright?" Phil said, crossing his arms. He seemed a bit annoyed, so I decided not to bother him anymore.

 _ **==EVIDENCE RECEIVED-PHIL'S TESTIMONY==**_

==Eins and Zwei==

"Hey, terror twins, got anything about the case?" I asked, walking over to the twins, who were whispering to eachother.

"Yes! We saw something extra peculiar last night!" The two twins cried in unison, pumping their fists.

"Last night I was going to talk to Zwei.." Eins said.

"..And we saw some person in a strange costume!" Zwei finished.

"They were totally disguised! They also had blood on them!" They both shouted, a scared look on their face.

"Really? You saw something like that?" I said, narrowing my eyes in disbelief.

"Yes, we're totally honest!" Both of the twins pleaded. "They ran off to the boys' dorms! Please believe us!"

"Well, for now I will. See ya at the trial, creeps." I said, bidding them farewell.

 _ **==EVIDENCE RECEIVED-EINS AND ZWEI'S TESTIMONY==**_

==Junpei==

Junpei was crouched down, staring at the body. His eyes were closed, and he seemed to be lost in thought.

"Junpei, what are you thinking about? Earlier, when we first discovered the body, you mentioned that it was 'the work of the witch, Beatrice.' What did that mean?" I asked, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Well, in Umineko, the first and second murders of the first chapter are extremely similar to this one...

The first twilight, in which six people are killed, has all of the victims heads bashed in, to the point where they're unrecognizable.

The second twilight, in which two people are killed, has both of the victims staked in the head. Not to mention, this stake is my own..." He explained, surprisingly being more knowledgeable than I thought.

"Wait, this thing is yours?!" I gasped in disbelief, gesturing to the purple stake in Kuzuri's forehead.

"Yes, it is. Last night I got a note telling me to come to the cafeteria. Since it was after Monochu told us about the whole secrets and murder thing, I brought my stake just in case.

But on the way there, I saw some masked person, in a weird costume. He, at least, I think it was a boy, really scared me, and while I was running away, I dropped my stake."

"That's a really strange and coincidental story, but I'll take it for now. Thanks, Junpei."

"Oh, and before you go, Fiona!" Junpei said, pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket. "Here's the note I got. You're the one investigating, so I trust you to take it. Good luck! I'll be there for you in the trial."

 _ **==EVIDENCE RECEIVED-JUNPEI'S TESTIMONY==**_

 _ **==EVIDENCE RECEIVED-JUNPEI'S NOTE===**_

"Hey, Eun-won! Are you ready to investigate the rest of the ship?" I asked, approaching Eun-won, who was glancing over the room. She nodded slowly.

"I think we've seen everything to see here, so I guess we can walk around..." She answered, holding a finger to her chin. Both of us went to the main room, to see if there was anything else to look for.

A few people were there, and Lazuli waved me over. "Fiona! I have found something that I believe to be evidence."

"What did you find, Lazuli?" I asked, walking over to her, Eun-won following me. Lazuli handed me another slip of paper, similar to the one Junpei gave me.

"I found this near the door on my way out of the arcade." She explained. Eun-won then snatched the note from me.

"Hey, lemme see this..." Eun-won started to read the note aloud. "Meet me in the arcade. Come alone."

"It seems that it might have been for Kuzuri." Lazuli observed. "This could have been the note that lured him to the arcade, no?"

"It could be." Eun-won stated, nodding. "Thanks."

 _ **==EVIDENCE RECEIVED-KUZURI'S NOTE==**_

"Eun-won." I said. "We should split up, since it will be easier to gather clues, and quicker. That's what they do in detective shows, right?"

"I guess. I'll check out the dorm hallways, you can do the cafeteria and the kitchen. You can leave now." Eun-won decided, pointing to the cafeteria, urging me to go there. I didn't argue, and though it seemed like I wouldn't find anything special in the cafeteria, I went there.

Nothing stood out in the main dining room, and the kitchen looked normal...Wait. Something had a towel draped over it, and it turned out to be just a frying pan. The towel, however, had a few blood stains on it...This is weird. Could this be the murder weapon?

 _ **==EVIDENCE RECEIVED-FRYING PAN AND TOWEL==**_

" _ **Your time is now up! Everyone report to the lobby, and position yourselves on the center panel. It's time for the trial, kihihi!"**_

* * *

 **I loved Kuzuri,** _ **but it's no fun if the people you don't like die, right? I apologize to Fujisaki-kun, who I believe was Kuzuri's creator, for killing him off. I love him though!  
**_

 _ **The culprit's creator is going to immediately going to know that their character is the culprit, so no telling anyone, alright? ;P**_

 _ **Any reviews and criticism are welcome!**_

 _ **((Can you all tell that I like Umineko references and gore? Yeah))**_


	6. -REPLAY EDITION-

Hey everyone, I'm back! Back for good now, hopefully. I've mostly been lurking around these parts, but now I realized that I needed to get back to my SYOC.

I've left you all waiting for a long time, mainly because of my lack of inspiration and personal problems. I've attempted to write the trial chapter numerous times, but I just couldn't get going.

So, don't worry, this SYOC isn't going anywhere! I canceled one, and I don't plan on doing that again! But I do plan to 'reboot' this SYOC, as I'd like to say. Basically, I'm going to start rewriting it.

I'll be actively uploading from now on, hopefully! I've spent my time going over all of the character submissions, as I've saved every single one to my computer, as well as any updates you all have given me, and I'm pumped to start writing again!

So while I apologize that I'm going to be rewriting this, especially since how the last time I tried rewriting an SYOC went...I hope you all can understand. Honestly, I've even prepared plans for where the new rewrite is going to be heading.

So you know what that means? A mastermind, or traitor, for that fact, is already chosen as well.

Anyways, see you all in the new chapter! I'm going to keep the old chapters for a while as I start uploading new ones, so anyone can go over them if they'd like.

I hope you'll all stay tuned for GAME OVER: -PREMIUM EDITION-


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